Catching Up

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I wrote. I have been very busy with new designs, new showrooms and opening the outlet in Memphis.

This afternoon I was in the studio and working on a venetian secretary that was shipping today. I became emotional just looking at the finished art on the drawers and all the time that we had spent in making the piece truly a work of art.

new techniques

I have always enjoyed experimentation and coming up with different ways of doing things. We are creating ways of reverse gilding and acid etching on glass. It is exciting to see how to take different designs in the mirror and how that will incorporate into a design for a entire new piece of furniture. Here is a multi-step process of acid etching and painting in reverse on a piece of mirror. I am in the process of designing a frame that will have these patterns on the mirror itself.

chinoiserie

Chinoiserie (a French term) was used during the 17th Century to reflect Chinese artistic influences. Chinoiserie’s use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China to depict what peasant life might have been like. From the Renaissance to the 18th Century, Western designers have attempted to imitate the look of Chinese porcelain and the use of lacquer like materials and decoration onto furniture.

shagreen nightstand

In the 30’s and 40’s baby sharkskin or shagreen as it is called was used on many pieces of furniture. When I was in an antique shop in Paris a few years ago, there was this wonderful shop that had many original Jean Michelle Frank chests.

our newest piece

The Aaron cocktail table is made of solid zebra wood. The simple lines and graceful curves make this a stunning cocktail. I wanted to keep the color light enough to allow the natural detail in the wood to show up. It is regal and simplistic while strong at the same time.

acrylic furniture

In the middle of the 20th Century, furniture design was going through major changes. Innovative furniture designers like Le Corbusier were experimenting with metal , glass and plastic. These new innovative designs were revolutionizing modern furniture.

madeleine bergeres

Over the years I have noticed that a lot of upholstery manufacturers are making their pieces larger and larger in scale. I have always wanted my designs to stay true to the original designs of the period in which they were interpreting.

mirrored furniture

14 Years ago, Gene and I were at the Paris Flea Market and came across the most wonderful piece of mirrored furniture. I decided then and there that we wanted to start making mirrored furniture. We developed our own process of making antiqued mirror. I can say that over the years the use of mirror in furniture has changed quite a bit.

it’s in the details

When I first started collecting antiques in my 20’s, I always loved looking in the drawers to find newspapers lining them as well as wonderful wallpapers of the time. It was like stepping back int another era. Who used this piece of furniture, what were things like for them?

seashell ornamentations

You will notice after awhile that I am personally drawn to things with a history, tons of texture, and great composition. It makes collecting things more conversational. I like things that you can’t find everywhere.